Broken from the Beginning  Lloyd Asplund
by Your-Greatest-Knightmare
Summary: Why Lloyd is so distant from the rest of humanity while wearing the mask of a smile. This is not a happy-go-lucky fan-fiction, it can be kind of dark sometimes.  I promise though there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and there will be pudding :3


Why Lloyd is so distant from the rest of humanity while wearing the mask of a smile. This is not a happy-go-lucky fan-fiction, it can be kind of dark sometimes. I promise though there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and there will be pudding :3

Set in his early childhood...please R&R

I don't own Code Geass or Lloyd Asplund, although I sure wish I did...

~Chapter 1~

A young boy walked home alone, no friends by his side, but a scrape on his knee and a silver tear running down his cheek. A sniff, a whimper, and the shuffling of small feet echoed the nearly empty street as the sun cast long shadows down the sidewalk. The street was bound on each side by large houses and grand estates, each of which was encircled by an elaborate gate, a seemingly endless row of gates and tall fences that jailed-in each respective captive. The young boy wore a uniform that showed the eloquent detail of an elite Britannian Primary school. Un-eagerness settled into the very particles of the air.

The details of the long day passed through his young, but brilliant mind. It seemed only this morning that he was so sure that his project would wring in the jealousy of his young classmates, and that it would. He had never been surpassed by his peers in the field of science. When they had only begun to study the periodic table he already had half of it committed to memory, so when they were assigned to do a project on a specific element of choice it hardly posed itself as a challenge. He had thought only briefly before deciding against a noble gas, which surely half of the class would choose anyway, and decided to go for a more difficult element: Terbium. This unusual element when combined with zirconium dioxide could act as a crystal stabilizer used in the physics of high-temperature fuel cells. There had been talk of needing such methods in the development of a new weapon, the likes of which were purely speculative. However, the prospect of being able to see the world change in such a drastic way made him grateful that he may be able to view the unveiling of such technology in his lifetime. He had worked hours compiling data on it and read many reports on how Terbium affected various chemical reactions. After putting the finishing touches on his model of the element he knew that his project was complete, he had even wondered if his teacher would be able to follow along.

The day had moved slowly for him as the anticipation built up in his small body. Although he hated public speaking, his love for science overshadowed his minor glossophobia. He didn't begin to care about their opinion of him, but even he was beginning to notice the jealous glances. At lunch he sat by himself on a small bench outside the cafeteria and picked at the bland school-food that was served to them on the basis that it was nutritious. There were several groups of children that occupied whole tables in the small courtyard, their laughter and childish pranks on each other made it difficult for him to read through the books he had most recently checked out from the library. He tuned out the loud drone of social activity to instead listen to his mind's possibilities as he thumbed through various pages on advanced mechanics and chemistry. It was only when one of them had approached him that he was brought back from his whirling inquiries.

"Hey Lloyd?" The taller boy teased as he called out behind him. Lloyd turned around to meet eye contact, adjusting his glasses slightly.

"Yes?" he said questioningly in acknowledgement.

"What element did _you_ choose for the project? Loser-ium?" The boy snickered as his friends all laughed in unison behind him.

"Terbium." Lloyd said bluntly, ignoring their insults. "Although I bet you've never even heard of it."

"What was that! Do you think that I'm stupid or something? Oh, you must think you're sooo smart don't you? Reading your books all the time, I bet that's all you ever do is read those stupid books! In fact I bet you do it on purpose to make the rest of us look dumb! Don't you?" The boy grabbed one of the books off Lloyd's bench and flipped through it erratically. "None of this makes any sense anyway, so I guess that makes it garbage!" The boy threw it on the ground, the pages of it getting bent; his friends behind him laughed and cheered him on. Lloyd walked over and picked the book up by the spine, dusting the pages off with his other hand.

"There's no reason for you to take out your inner hostilities like this, it's not my fault you can't read." Lloyd said sarcastically as he tucked the book under his arm.

The boy ran forward and tried to wrench the book away from Lloyd, but Lloyd clung to it as tightly as he could allowing himself to be jerked this way and that by the taller boy. The commotion that had incurred had attracted more than enough attention. A teacher stepped out into the courtyard and everyone fell silent. Lloyd still bore all his strength into holding on to his small treasure, the boy still white knuckled as he gripped the brim of the book. Neither one of them moved.

"Alcott, you let go of him this instant." Her voice was stern and commanding.

The taller boy complied nearly pushing Lloyd to the ground; Alcott put his hands up in mock surrender. Lloyd stumbled and ran to hide behind Mrs. Edson and the safety that her skirt provided. She scolded the other children for their behavior and received many lowered eyes and "yes ma'ams" from amongst them. For now he was safe.

The rest of the day fell back into the same monotonous blur that he had become used to. It was as though what had happened at lunch was as far off as some story he was forced to read in his literature class. It was only until after the final dismissal bell rang that he once again became aware of the looming presence of other people.

"Hey Lloyd, I want to talk to you." Crossing his arms, Alcott walked up to Lloyd and stepped in front of him. "You know you really got me in trouble today. Mrs. Edson said that if this happens again she wants to call my parents and get me in big trouble. This is all _your_fault! If you weren't such a little teacher's pet she would listen to us but, no. She always gets me in trouble when you that always starts it!"

"You know good and well that I've never been the catalyst in any of our…disagreements." Lloyd said with momentary hesitance. He took a step back and tried to move around Alcott only to be blocked off again.

"Why do you always talk like that? What a loser, trying to use big words to make yourself look better!" Alcott said forcefully as he gave a hard shove to Lloyd's chest. Lloyd stumbled backwards and tried to circumvent the taller boy, but was pulled back by his collar and pushed to the ground. A sharp pain stung at his knee. Another push, shove and struggle and he lost his glasses, the blurry shape still lashing dull pains upon him as he brought his arms and knees to his chest. His memory faded off like the dying sunlight.

With sore movements the boy finally came to stand before a large wrought-iron gate, the letter "A" ornately twisted amongst the metal. A car's engine hummed behind him. He moved aside as a sleek black vehicle with polished leather seats drove slowly past him up the short driveway. The driver's eyes did not disarticulate from the steering wheel. Hesitantly, the boy walked slowly behind the car. In the glossy paint he could see the reflection of his tangled hair and dirty face. He lowered his gaze as the driver opened the back door.

"Good evening, Father." The boy spoke evenly, but with trepidation as a tall stern faced man stepped out from the vehicle.

"What are you doing?" The man asked, his tone an uneven mixture of both sharp and flat.

"I..was just…" The boy was cut off as his father slapped him with the back of his hand.

"Look at yourself! Go inside before anyone sees you in such a state." The man's voice was brisk and harsh. With a quick nod the child hurried off into the manor. A maid shut the door quietly behind him.

Lloyd came to sit at the base of the staircase, his mind lost in thought. His knee still stung but he was more focused on the prickling sensation on his right cheek, _it_ stung with bitterness. His small fingers traced his cheek softly as he sighed to himself. He looked up to see his mother walking towards him. She moved gracefully as the staccato of her heels trailed beneath her petit figure. Her gaze shifted and her azure eyes scanned over the small boy; she showed no acknowledgement of his injuries.

"Lloyd, go to your room and get changed for dinner, it will be ready soon." Her voice was both grandiose and unemotional, like a proper lady. With a simple "yes Mother" he took to climbing the winding marble staircase, a lucent sadness sat upon his eyes.

Step after step, and ache after ache brought him to the zenith of the tall staircase. With a small sigh he started walking down the carpeted hallways of the upper floor. A few doors down on the left side there was a medium sized bathroom. Gripping the crystal doorknob he entered and realized almost instantly a single problem. He couldn't reach the medicine cabinet. With his knee bruised and a little bloodied he couldn't climb his way onto the sink; he was barely tall enough to see his reflection in the mirror. He heard a small knock at the door and a warm voice asked him if he needed help. He turned around to see one of the maids standing in the doorway. Her smile faded and concern filled her eyes. She walked over to where he stood and knelt down to his level.

"Oh my, look at you." Her bottom lip stiffened as she drew back the corners of her mouth. The palm of her hand gently rubbed the side of his face and her delicate fingers brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes. "Poor thing, let's get you fixed up." Her voice was full of sympathy and a gentle smile played on her lips.

Lloyd watched her with curiosity as she stood to her feet and retrieved a washcloth from a shelf of towels and ran it under warm water in the sink. She was fairly young and had long hair that was raven in color and pulled back into a low ponytail. She wore a simple blue dress and a white apron about her waist, the collar of a white button down shirt poked out of the top of her dress. Her hands wrung out the excess water from the cloth and she bet down again to where he stood. She took her time as she gently rubbed the warm cloth over his cheeks and forehead. The edges of his glasses fogged from it's warm moisture.

He studied her intently as she cleaned the dirt from his face. _Her name, what was her name?_ He tried to recall what his mother had called her when he had met her the week prior. She had only recently come to work for the Asplunds and although it hadn't seemed important at the time he wished now that he had paid more attention, maybe then he would have remembered her name.

"So there _is_ a boy under this dirt after all," she said, a laugh in her voice. Lloyd's eyes brightened and a smile flashed across his face. "Let's take a look at that knee, shall we?" he nodded shyly and she picked him up and set him on the counter near the sink. His legs dangled off the edge as he swung them back and forth, a smile still on his face.

She grabbed a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and poured it onto a cotton ball that she held in her hand and walked back over to him.

"Now this might hurt a little, okay?" Her voice had sympathy and a warmth that let him know that it was okay to trust her. He gave a slight nod. His aquamarine eyes followed the sight of the cotton ball as she dabbed it against the scrape on his knee. Small bubbles formed on top of his scrape and she was right, it _did_ sting. When she was certain that she had killed any infection that could be present she pulled out a band-aid from the pocket of her apron. It was a dark green and had little teddy bears on it. She smiled as she adhered it gently to his sore knee. "All better," she said with accomplishment in her voice.

He looked down at his bandaged knee and a curious thought crossed his mind.

"Why do you have band-aids like this? The little boy asked her, his voice seemed to dance along the words he spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that we don't own any bandages that look like that, or even close for that matter. So that means that _you_ bought these bandages and then decided to keep them on your person."

For a moment she looked at him with awe or perhaps disbelief that a child could even possess reasoning like what she had just heard.

"I got them for you because I know kids get hurt a lot, and I just thought they were kind of cute. I kept a couple in my pocket in case you ever needed one."

"I find it hard to believe that you would have thought this far ahead about something so trivial, although I have no reason to not believe you." His eyebrows furrowed together slightly as his thoughts trailed along with his words.

"I hardly think that this is trivial." Her voice held sympathy and concern. In her eyes Lloyd saw something of which had been missing in his life for as long as he could remember. The same intangible object had been placed on a shelf too tall for him to reach until he was face to face with it in the woman that stood before him now. For whatever reason it may be, it seemed truthful enough that this woman truly cared about him.

She helped him down off of the counter and walked with him down the long hallways to his room. After his clothes for dinner were picked out and neatly laid out on his bed she turned back to him with a smile.

"If you need anything at all, let me know. Okay?" He nodded happily, as a smile danced along the features of his face. She left the room with a curtsy, shutting the door softly behind her. It wasn't until after she left that he realized he hadn't asked for her name. He grumbled to himself quietly as he took off his uniform's jacket and cast it on the floor beside him. The rest of his dirtied clothes followed and from one set of shackles to another he dressed himself in what was deemed appropriate of a Britannian noble.

As he tightened the ivory ascot around his neck he looked down at the green bandage that adorned his knee. He let go of the silk fabric that threatened to hang him like a noose and with a low groan he left his room pulling the door to close quietly behind him. Apprehension settled onto him as he walked slowly to dinner, a slow shuffling of feet and his mind in a whir.

So what did you think? I hope it wasn't to depressing at times...I got kind of depressed writing it to be honest...but this just goes to prove: Don't bully the nerds people...one day they could F.L.E.I.J.I.A your house...

I hope to keep this going as much as I can I have a lot of ideas about where I want to go and I promise a happy ending ^^

Please Review ^^ (I'll give you pudding if you do :3 )


End file.
